A Catholic wedding should have elements that remind us of our faith. Brazilian sales supervisor Leila Morais da Silveira took this very seriously. As soon as she started planning her "big day" she already knew she wanted Our Lady to literally be part of the ceremony.
When she was selecting the style of the dress she would wear on her wedding day, she ordered an unusual accessory from the designer: a long veil with the image of Our Lady of Aparecida, patroness of Brazil.
For her, the veil would be the coronation of a dream and a sign of her great devotion.
"I’m very devoted to Our Lady of Aparecida, as are all my family members. We’ve received so many graces, and feeling that she’s by our side is wonderful! It's always been a dream of mine to get married... And I know that my husband was a gift from her to me. So, I wanted to somehow show the affection I feel for her at this special moment in my life," explains Leila.
A dream and a challenge
The bride's dream was a challenge for the seamstress. In her more than 30 years making wedding dresses, Mrs. Célia Martins had never embroidered the image of Our Lady on a veil. But she and her daughter, Cláudia Martins Braga, who have a workshop in the south of Brazil, were willing to make Leila's dream come true.
"We’d never done it, so we didn't even know where to start. But the first thing was to define the size of the image, and make the design in a pattern to apply the embroidery on the tulle of the veil," explains the stylist.
It took 36 hours to plan and make the veil. And the result couldn’t have been better. The finished veil was 13 feet long. The image of Our Lady of Aparecida stood out with its 6 feet of length and its details in silk threads, flowers, and abundant rhinestones in the crown. Everything was handmade with great precision and attention..
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Surprising result
The finished work surprised even the bride. "When the veil was ready I cried with emotion. They made everything even more perfect with the care and attention that we see in their work, not to mention the attention to detail. It was pure emotion," remembers Leila.
The most exciting moment was when the bride entered the church, escorted by Our Lady in her veil and the rosary she held in her hands.
"My family was amazed because they'd never seen anything so beautiful! All the guests came to hug me and say that they felt Our Lady everywhere, and this moved me a lot, because this was exactly what I wanted," Leila recalls.
An unexpected success
The veil with the image of Our Lady wasn’t a success only among the guests at Leila's wedding. After the studio posted a video on Instagram showing a model with the veil, requests for quotes began to pour in from other brides who also wanted to have the image of the Mother of God on their veil. The video has already had almost half a million likes on Instagram.
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"In six months, we’ve already made at least 15 veils like this one. There have even been requests from outside Brazil. A bride from Florida, in the USA, wanted a veil with the image of Our Lady," explains seamstress Cláudia Martins Braga.
Besides Our Lady of Aparecida, the studio also made a veil with the image of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
In short, these veils are an expression of faith and devotion that goes beyond the fashion barrier and is winning the heads and hearts of brides all over the world.
